Biomass Energy – Sustainable Solution to Livestock Wastes?

Livestock production is an important food supply and economic
activity, the primary goal of which is to supply high-quality protein
(meat, eggs, dairy products, etc) for the needs of human populations.
The animals serve as concentrated sources of typically dispersed
nutrients. Subsidiary products may include leather, fertilizers, inputs
to animal feeds, and energy sources (biofuels). The challenge of
sustainable livestock production systems is to promote food security in
a manner which is economically viable and socially acceptable without
causing land degradation or irreversibly affecting ecological
resilience. As such, sustainability must promote a favourable cost –
benefit ratio, and as far as possible avoid reducing the set of options
available to future generations. This has very significant social
considerations, as seemingly obvious solutions may be difficult to
implement, as they may be biologically but not economically sustainable.

The recycling of materials, and thus minimizing the generation of
wastes is a basic process which must be implemented to meet the demands
of sustainability in developed and developing countries alike. Systems
which utilize energy produced from biomass are examples of
energy-recycling systems. All biomass originates through carbon dioxide
fixation by photosynthesis. Consequently, biomass utilization may be
regarded as a critical component of the global carbon cycle of the
biosphere...

http://geoenergy.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/biomass-energy-%e2%80%93-sustainable-solution-to-livestock-wastes/